Personal alarm systems are well known in the art. Some of these systems are used to maintain surveillance of children. They may also be used to monitor the safety of employees involved in dangerous work at remote locations or to monitor the safety of physically or mentally handicapped people. They may even be used to find lost or stolen vehicles and strayed pets.
Every year, thousands of children and adults suffer injuries during various recreational and athletic activities. These injuries occur mostly during recreational activities, although injuries can also occur during training or during various national and international competitions. For example, one of the most frequently occurring injuries in gymnastics is due to falls or improper landing after dismount from the parallel bars, high bars or rings. Most injuries occur during practice, even though in these situations mats with various thickness and degree of softness, depending on the characteristics of the gymnast and his/her degree of expertise and the type of exercise to be performed, are commonly placed in the landing area to absorb the shock during landing or in case of a fall. The most dangerous fall is where an athlete falls on his/her head. Such falls can cause serious spinal injury and may even be fatal. Falls on the shoulder, side or the back are less dangerous, but may cause serious soft tissue damage and/or bone fracture or joint dislocation. Uncontrollable foot landing is usually least dangerous, with the most probable short-term injuries being those of the knee or ankle due to twisting of the foot and/or the knee joints. However, with the current mats in use, particularly with the stiffer mats used while practicing dismount and landing and in competitions, the high level of repetitive impact loading of the limbs, particularly the foot, ankle and the knee joints, and even the spinal structure can cause serious long-term medical problems.
Additionally, the increasing awareness of head injuries has also become more widely known in recent years. Although helmets are worn, especially by young children, during many of these activities, helmets do not always protect against all of the different head traumas, especially injuries associated with rapid acceleration of the helmet wearer's head.
Existing monitoring systems use radio technology to link a remote transmitting unit with a base receiving and monitoring station. The remote unit is usually equipped with one or more hazard sensors and is worn or attached to the person or thing to be monitored. When a hazard is detected, the remote unit transmits to the receiving base station where an operator can take appropriate action in responding to the hazard.
The use of personal alarm systems to monitor the activities of children has become increasingly popular. A caretaker attaches a small remote unit, no larger than a personal pager, to an outer garment of a small child. If the child wanders off or is confronted with a detectable hazard, the caretaker is immediately notified and can come to the child's aid. In at least one interesting application, a remote unit includes a receiver and an audible alarm which can be activated by a small hand-held transmitter. The alarm is attached to a small child. If the child wanders away in a large crowd, such as in a department store, the caretaker actives the audible alarm which then emits a sequence of “beeps” useful in locating the child in the same way one finds a car at a parking lot through the use of an auto alarm system.
There is a trade-off between constant monitoring of children's activities and the risk of injuries or endangerment to the welfare of the children. Childhood activities like biking, skateboarding, horseback riding, and skiing, for example, are formative for physical development and competitive spirit, however they carry some risk of injury, particularly head injuries. The CDC reported that in 2008 there were more than a quarter of a million bicycle injuries for children 19 or younger with most injuries in the 5-14 year range. Thus, helmets are required or strongly encouraged when participating in such activities. Moreover, children benefit in terms of independence and self-reliance when forming groups with others of the same age. Hence, there is a need to encourage children to engage in unsupervised activities, while also enabling immediate response in the event of an accident or emergency.